The beautiful Russian City of St Petersburg claims to have more green space than that of Paris, but for most of the year its ice and snow. But when they are green they are truly beautiful and some of the best gardens in the world. The city boasts about 200 parks and gardens plus thousands of tree lined streets, it is estimated there is about 56 square meters of plant life for every one of the city’s 4.5 million residents. Alexander Gardens is one of the most spectacular, its located opposite the Hermitage and is home to a beautiful illuminated musical fountain and Russia’s oldest Zoo. Once a swamp it is today one of St Petersburg’s favorite places to relax. St Petersburg is also home to Russia’s only botanical gardens and features over 12000 species of plant life including the unique Queen of the Night which blooms every may for only one night. Read the rest of this entry »
Today’s story is not for the faint hearted its Dracula’s Castle or Bran Castle which stands in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania deep in Transylvania. The castle was once a residence of Prince Vlad Tepes who Bram Stoker based his 1897 of Count Dracula on, but details are sketchy. But the ledged of Count Dracula has become stronger as time goes on and people have blurred folk law with story telling and the truth. No one really knows if Count Dracula is now real or not. Let’s hope he was it only makes the story of the castle more fascinating. The castle was actually used as a Royal residence up until 1947 when the monarchy fell in Romania. Today the castle draws thousands of tourists, many for the legends but just as many for the beauty of the Gothic, fairy-tale picture perfect setting.
A small town located on the Ohio River in Massac County, Illinois with about 6500 residents is the home town of Superman. Some may say its Smalltown but in January 1972 DC Comics declared Metropolis the “hometown of Superman”. The town is now home to a Superman Museum, a Superman Festival which is held every June and the Metropolis Daily Planet Newspaper but the best thing about this town is the cool superman statue outside the courthouse, in his blue tights and red Speedos and cape. As well as the 15ft high Superman the town also has a beautiful Superman mural which shows some great scenes from 1930’s circa DC Comics, there’s a 2.5 million dollar Superman Museum but the man of steel better keep away from the corner of Third and Ferry Street as there is a huge kryptonite meteorite dangerously waiting to bring the super hero to his knees.
Las Vegas’ Stratosphere is the tallest free standing structure in Nevada at at 350m high its home to 3 thrill rides for those that have no issues with vertigo. The Big Shot is the highest ride in the world and shoots people up and down the towers mast. Insanity the Ride, opened in 2005, is the second highest ride in the world and dangles people over the edge while spinning them forcing them up and looking down to the ground. XSCREAM is the third highest ride in the world and it is like a rollacoster car that travels a short distance and gives you the feeling its going to keep going straight over the edge. A rollacoster once wound its way around the tower but was removed in 2005 to make way for Insanity the ride. Read the rest of this entry »
A lot of the world’s biggest street celebrations happen in the first weeks of February including the Mardi Gras, Chinese New Year and the Munchen Narrisch or Mad Munich celebrations. All the fun takes place at the Viktualienmarkt in downtown Munich where thousands of costumed revelers party on with carnivals, entertainers, heaps of confetti and of course Munich Beer. It’s pretty cold in Munich today but with early morning temperatures down to as low as -1 and a high of only 9 but with all the fun who cares. Tuesday the celebrations come to a head with Dance of the Market Women which is great fun. The festival is the biggest think in Munich other than you guessed it Oktoberfest which is only 229 days away.
The Osaka monorail holds the Guinness Book of Records award for the world’s longest monorail with a track spanning 21.2km. The elevated train runs between Osaka International Airport and Kadoma-shi Station and also has an offshoot to Saiito-nishi . Opening between Senri-Chuo and Minami-Ibaraki in 1990 the monorail track has had several extensions over the last 18 years. The entire trip takes about 36 minutes and stops at 14 stations. As with most of Japan’s public transport system the cost is fairly reasonable the entire trip only costs a little over Y500 which is about $5, but fares start as low as Y200 and kids can use the system at half price. The monorail can get quiet busy with over 70,000 people riding on it every day. Each monorail has 4 carriages and is made by Hitachi and uses 1500 volts of power to glide along the concrete track. Read the rest of this entry »
Cunard’s RMS Queen Elizabeth II is currently sailing though the Magellan Straights of the South American continent on its way to on one of its last voyages. The ship is probably the best know of all ships (except that of the Titanic of course). Launched in 1967 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the craft has sailed over 5.5 million nautical miles and carried over 2 million guests. The original cost of building the ship was just over 29 million pounds over 15 times that has been spent in the last 40 years refitting the craft, and it is not over yet. The ship is going to be the centerpiece of a new development in Dubai called Palm Jumeirah and is going to be completely refit to match the original 1960’s decor then become a luxury floating hotel as part of the monstrous palm shaped island entertainment complex. It is expected the ship will be open for business some time in late 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
You may have noticed airlines don’t have too many new and original ideas and Premium Economy may just be one of them. Premium Economy is the latest gimmick that the airlines are jumping on and in theory it’s a good idea. With standard economy seat spaces becoming smaller and business class spaces becoming bigger there is a huge jump between traveling like a king or a pauper. This is where premium economy fits in offering 20% to 30% more space than economy and a bit better menu. Some how the size of these seats remind me of business class seats from the early 80’s and you got to ask yourself if the constant upsizing of business and first class cabins have been worth it, especially when many US airlines are removing first class altogether. Expect to pay double your standard economy fare when traveling Premium Economy but probably half of what business is worth, so what do you recon is it worth it?, let us know below. Read the rest of this entry »
The Osaka monorail holds the Guinness Book of Records award for the world’s longest monorail with a track spanning 21.2km. The elevated train runs between Osaka International Airport and Kadoma-shi Station and also has an offshoot to Saiito-nishi . Opening between Senri-Chuo and Minami-Ibaraki in 1990 the monorail track has had several extensions over the last 18 years. The entire trip takes about 36 minutes and stops at 14 stations. As with most of Japan’s public transport system the cost is fairly reasonable the entire trip only costs a little over Y500 which is about $5, but fares start as low as Y200 and kids can use the system at half price. The monorail can get quiet busy with over 70,000 people riding on it every day. Each monorail has 4 carriages and is made by Hitachi and uses 1500 volts of power to glide along the concrete track. 
